Suction device for steam radiators



June 3, 1952 I H. E. MARTINDALE ETAL 2,599,467

SUCTION DEVICE FOR STEAM RADIATORS Filed Sept. 11, 1950 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 MIRO SWITGH 7114-00105 1' "1-10 aw: ran

70 Rho/"Ta June 1952 H. E. MARTINDALE ETAL 2,599,467

SUCTION DEVICE FOR STEAM RADIATORS Filed Sept. 11, 1950 .2 susms-smw 2 fizferzlfo 71s. JYorI/g marl z'rlalale/ Zl/z'll 1am Odemuerzden.

Patented June 3, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SUCTION DEVICE FOR STEAM RADIATORS Harvey E. Martindale and William C. Gemuenden, Menominee, Mich.

Application September 11, 1950, Serial No. 184,223

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a suction device for aradiator of a steam, heating system.

Most steam, heating. systems are of the one pipe type, that is, only a single pipe extends from the boiler tov an individual room radiator. Operation of such. a system requires that sub stantial steam pressure be generated and maintained in the boiler. This calls for relatively heavy fuel consumption, as compared to that required'by vapor; type heating systems.

The individual radiators of. a one pipe steam system each have an. air' vent valve. When a radiator is cool, the. air vent valve is open so that boiler pressureis enabled to force cool air out of mementos? Steam'from the boiler then enters and'fillstheradiator. As the temperature of the radiator increases, the air vent valve automatically closes to preventthe escape of steam.

In many. one pipe heating systems of this characten'particularly older installations, heating efliciency is impaired for some reason or other. Such substandard systems require even greater quantities of fuel than the relatively large quantities. used when operating properly.

One-frequent'cause of faulty operation is failure of one or. more of the air vent valves to function properly. If one or two valves fail to pass the cool air. under normal steam pressure, then increased steam pressure is commonly employed. This wastes fuel, and, in addition, results inex'cessive over heating'of other radiators.

A similar difiiculty often is'present due to the design of the-(system. Radiators most remote from the. boiler are slow to heat, and consequently increased pressures are used which tend to over heat theradiators closer to the boiler, aswell as waste. fuel.

Another. cause of faulty operation is a shifting in the original alignment of the pipes and radiators. This may result from a settling of the building'in which the system is installed. Even moderate settling may causev appreciable inefficiencies. in thev operation of the heating system. and this difficulty. has heretofore been. expensive to remedy.

Onev object of our'invention is to provide a small, unitary, inexpensive. device that may be attached. to oneQor more radiators'in a one pipe steam. heating system, Use of our device will, in addition to producing other important advantages. overcome the aforesaid difficulties occasioned. by faulty air vent valves; faulty design and settling of the building containing the installation. Also, it will effectively convert a steam. system into a vapor systemwith all the advantages. ofv the latter.

In brief, our deviceincludes an air vent valve which is more or less conventional. The valve is connected in theusual manner to the valve opening of the radiator. The outlet of the valve communicates through a closed passage with the inlet side of a suction fan, which fan is driven by a small electric motor. A thermostatic switch closes to start the motor when room temperature drops below a predetermined value. As the air vent valve is open when the room and radiator are at that temperature, the suction'fan functions to exhaust cool air from the radiator and discharge it to atmosphere, thereby creating a relatively low pressure region within the'radiator. This reduced pressure is communicated to some extent throughout the entire heating system. Heated vapors from the boiler quickly travel to the radiator from which the, air is being exhausted. When the radiator. becomes heated, the air vent valve automatically closes, andv a switch. associated therewith opens to deenergize the motor and fan, thereby. completing a cycle of operation.

Our device may be used on only one radiator of a system, or a plurality or all of the radiators may each be equipped with one of our devices. Regardless of the number of devices used, beneficial results are produced. If full conversion to a vapor system is desired, each radiator. should have one of the devices.

The advantages produced by our invention are numerous.

In the first place, when heat is desired ina particular radiator, cool air therein is forcibly exhausted, after which steam quickly flows to and heats the radiator. This eliminates the haphazard practice, sometimes used, of physi cally taking the conventional air: vent valve out of the radiator. Removal of the valve often is followed by'forgetfulness. with the result that the room, while heated, also is filled with steam and vapors. With our device to bring heated vapors to the radiator when needed, there is no occasion to remove the valve.

Another important advantage of our invention is that it affords a practicaLyet extremely inexpensive, means for converting a one pipe steam system into a vapor system. This enables the system to operate with all the advantages of a vapor system, including the use of low or no boiler pressurev with consequent economiesin fuel consumption. It is only necessary to maintain a generally low, uniform temperature in the boiler (vapor producing heat), a practice that can be expected to save'25 percent or more on fuel when compared to operation as a steam system.

In the case of new installations, a vapor system can be constructed wherein return pipes are eliminated. Also, the radiator valves on the pipes to the boiler can be eliminated, as no vapors reach the radiators except as called for by our devices.

Another advantage in using one or more of our devices is that small leaks in the system do not appreciably affect system operation, as heretofore.

Another important advantage obtained from using our device on a particular radiator is that the temperature in the room containing that radiator is controlled on an individual room basis. This makes it possible to accurately predetermine and maintain the temperature in a given room entirely independent of the temperatures in other rooms heated by the system. Such individual room control insures uniform heating even in the spring and, fall, usually difficult seasons for steam heating systems.

Also, our device makes it easy to eliminate heat from vacant 'rooms when desired, a feature particularly useful in hotels. Similarly, it is easy to restore heat to such rooms.

The use of our device overcomes inefficiencies in radiation due to undersize or oversize radiators.

Another important advantage resulting from the use of our device is that a certain amount of moist air is forced into the room containing the radiator. Experience has demonstrated that this amount of moist air usually maintains proper, desired humidity conditions in the room.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will be apparent as the description proceeds, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate one structural form of the invention. It is to be understood, of course, that in additional commercial applications of the invention various details might well vary somewhat from those here shown and described.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a steam radiator equipped with our suction device;

Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation of the radiator and device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through our suction device on line 3-3 of Fig. 2

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the device on line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the electrical circuit used with our device;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a combination electric plug and thermostatic switch that may be used with our device, and

Fig. '7 is a sectional view on line 1-1 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate a steam radiator ll! of the type commonly used in an individual room with a one pipe steam heating system. Radiator II] has a customary radiator valve II in the boiler pipe for manually controlling the flow of vapor or steam to the radiator. Valve ll, incidentally, is the valve that would be eliminated in a new installation if our invention were used.

The suction device of our invention is generally designated by 12. It is shown attached to radiator H] at the customary valve opening of the radiator. An electric cord [3 extends from the device to a nearby convenience outlet M.

The illustrated form of our invention is shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4.

Referring first to Fig. 3, our device includes an air vent valve I8 of more or less conventional construction. Valve 16 has a tubular nipple I? that is threaded into the valve opening of radiator l. Tubular nipple l1 communicates with the interior of valve It to conduct heated vapors or steam from the radiator to the valve interior.

A bellows device 20, located inside valve I6, has sealed therein a gas that expands appreciably on heating. Bellows device 20 carries a valve stem 2| that actuates a valve element 22. A valve seat element 23 cooperates with valve element 22 to provide a valve assembly.

As illustrated, bellows device 29 is relaxed (not heated), and in this condition, valve element 22 is not seated on element 23, i. e., the valve is open. When increased temperatures reach bellows device 2, the contained gas expands with the result that the valve closes, thereby preventing the escape of any more air or heated vapors from the radiator interior.

From the above description, it will be seen that when the radiator and the room containing the radiator are cool, air vent valve I6 is normally open so that cool air from the radiator interior may be removed. The air removal operation is performed in our device with the cooperation of a suction fan, as will be seen.

The outlet from element 23 of valve I6 communicates through a closed passage with an inlet 25 of a suction fan 26.

The closed passage may take a variety of forms, and for purposes of illustrating our invention, we have shown the entire air vent valve l8 enclosed in a substantially airtight housing 2?. Nipple ll of valve l6 extends through housing 21, the latter being supported by and sealed to the nipple. Housing 21 has a perforated partition 28 to which the outlet portion of valve I6 is secured. The remaining part of housing El will be later described.

Fan inlet 25 comprises a tubular nipple that passes through and is secured to housing 2'! in an airtight manner. This nipple and valve nipple I! are desirably colinear. Inlet 25 communicates with a circular housing 30 that encloses suction fan 26. Housing 30 has an annular outlet 3| at it periphery for the passage of air exhausted from the radiator by fan 26.

Suction fan 26 may be of any conventional type, and it preferably has side plates 33 and 34 separated by vanes 35, best shown in Fig. 4. With vanes 35 oriented as shown in Fig. 4, the direction of fan rotation is as indicated by the arrow.

An electric motor 31 is mounted on fan housing 30, and operatively connected to fan 26. The motor axis and fan axis desirably are colinear with fan inlet 25 and air vent valve nipple IT.

The path of air through our device when operating to withdraw air from radiator I0 is shown by arrows in Fig. 3. Air from the radiator interior enters tubular nipple l1 and is discharged into the interior of valve l6. From here, the air passes through the then open valve elements into the region enclosed by housing 21. Thence it passes through fan inlet 25 to the central region of the fan housing. Fan 26 drives the air from this central region to the peripheral region of the housing, from whence it is discharged through annular outlet 3| to atmosphere.

A suction fan of the character described can be relied upon to move a relatively large volume of air, a characteristic that is necessary to successful operation of our device. In this manner a region of relatively low pressure is produced in communicated through" the pipe leading: to: the

radiator to the boiler. a result, heatedvapors are conducted quickly from the. boiler? to. the

radiator in question. When higher temperatures reach the radiator andfare; impressed on bellows device of air vent valve I 6, the valve automatically'closes, thereby preventing the discharge of heated vaporsthrough our device to atmosphere.

Referring now to Figs. 5, 6 and '7, the electrical circuit-and other components used to control the operation of our device will now be described.

A schematic circuit diagram for use with our device is shown in Fig. 5. An electric plug 45 has one terminal connected to one terminal of motor 3-1 by conductor 41-. The other motor terminal= is connected by" conductor 42 to one terminal of aswitch 43 This switch, as willpresently be seen, operates in response to thefclosing and opening action of air vent valve 16. The other terminal of switch 43 is connected by a conductor 44 to one terminal of a thermostatic switch 45, the other terminal of switch 45 being connected by conductor 41 to the second terminal of plug 40. Conductors 4| and 44 make up the electric cord I3 illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

In order to condition our device for operation, plug is inserted in a convenience outlet such as i4. If the temperature of the room is at a proper desired value, thermostatic switch 45, which may be enclosed in a common housing with plug 45, is open, so the motor is not energized. When the room temperature falls below a predetermined value, thermostatic switch closes and, since switch 43 also is closed, the motor is energized to drive fan 25. At this time with the room cool, air vent valve [6 is open so that fan action causes air to be withdrawn from the radiator through air vent valve I'B. The motor and fan continue operation until such time as sufficient air is exhausted from the radiator to permit heated vapors to reach the radiator interior and air vent valve [5. When valve l6 closes in response to this increase in temperature, a mechanical connection, presently to be described, between valve I6 and switch 43 causes the latter to open, thereby breaking the circuit to the motor. Thereafter, the radiator continues to heat the room for an extended period. At this increased room temperature, thermostatic switch 45 assumes its normal, open position.

When the radiator and the room cool somewhat, air vent valve I6 opens with the result that switch 43 closes, as will be later described. However, motor 31 is not energized because at this time thermostatic switch 45 is open. When room temperature drops still further, switch 45 closes to initiate a successive cycle of operation.

Referring to air vent valve I6 in Fig. 3, it will be seen that valve seat element 23 has an outlet opening of substantial size. An elongated member 54 extends through this enlarged opening, one end of the member being in contact, separate or integral, with valve element 22. Thus valve element 22 is between member and valve stem 2!, and the member and stem are colinear. Consequently member 50, looking at Fig. 3, moves up and down with valve element 22 and valve stem 2|.

The free end of member 50 is positioned to cooperate with switch 43, which as illustrated, is of the micro-switch type and is located in the upper portion of housing 21. When member 50 is in retracted position, as shown in Fig. 3, its

6 free end is out: of effective ,7 engagement with switch. 43,: andithe; switch, is closed. Alternatively; .when: member 5 0 -is extended in response to valve closure, the free end engages one of the elements; of switch 43-to open the switch. Upon retraction ofv member 50 when the valve opens, microswitch. 43 automatically. closes.

Since they physical relation of switch 43v and thememben 50' is, more or less critical, switch 43" is preferably mounted in a pivotal manner on a pivot pin; 52. Aresilient means such as springs 53*bear against one side of switch 43, whilean adjustable means such as set screw 54'; bears against the opposite side. Adjustment of the means 54 readily locates switch 43 in proper position for actuation by member 50. Switch 43-, of course, is properlypositioned when itsisclose'd during. the time valve I6 is open, and operr during the; time valve [6. is closed.

Inorder: that switchactuating member 50 will not. unduly: impedethe passage of air through the outlet of valve 16, the member 50 preferably has a diameter that is appreciably smaller than the valve outlet opening. Also, as shown in Fig. '7, member 50 may have longitudinal grooves 51 to increase the area available for air passage.

Thermostatic switch 45, as previously mentioned, may conveniently be incorporated in a common housing with electric plug 40. The assembly of the two elements in a common housing 60 is illustrated in Fig. 6. Switch 45 is, of course, set so that it will close at a predetermined temperature. which temperature may be a few degrees below the desired room temperature. Similarly, switch 45 is designed to open at or slightly above the desired room tempera ture.

From the above description it is thought that the advantages, construction and operation of our invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Various changes in detail may be made without departing from the spirit or losing the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A suction device for a radiator in a one pipe steam heating system, said device comprising an air vent valve for connection to the valve opening 7 of the radiator, said air vent valve including a thermally actuated valve element, a member movable in response to said valve element, a fan housing and a suction fan therein, said fan housing having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet to said fan housing communicating through a closed passage with the valve element of said air vent valve, an electric motor for driving said fan, a circuit for said motor including a thermostatic switch for making the circuit when the room temperature falls below a predetermined value, whereby said fan withdraws air from the radiator through said air vent valve, and a switch for breaking said circuit upon closure of said air vent valve, said last-named switch being actuated by said member movable in response to said valve element.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said. valve element has a valve stem within the air vent valve, and the member movable in response to said valve element is colinear with said valve stem, the valve element being disposed between the stem and said member.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said 7 motor circuit includes a plug for attachment to an electric outlet, and a housing for said plug, the said thermostatic switch being mounted in said housing.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein the axis of said radiator valve opening, the fan axis and the motor axis are colinear.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein said last named switch is mounted in a pivoted manner, the pivotal position of said switch determining the time of switch operation relative to the action of said member movable in response to said valve element, and means for making pivotal adjustment including a set screw bearing on one side of said switch and a resilient means bearing on the opposite side of said switch.

6. A device of the character described comprising an air vent valve, a fan housing supported by said air vent valve and having an inlet communicating with said valve through a HARVEY E. MARTINDALE. WILLIAM C. GEMUENDEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 647,026 Paul Apr. 10, 1900 1,243,219 Ralphs Oct. 16, 1917 1,352,265 Hershey Sept. 7, 1920 1,607,392 Denison Nov. 16, 1926 2,088,910 Jencick Aug. 3, 1937 

